This is how the Netherlands could save Britain from the pain of Brexit

While France is busy tightening the thumbscrews, the Netherlands is actively loosening them.

Responses to the UK announcing it had secured a deal with the EU on the terms of its exit have been met with a decidedly mixed response – and not only in Britain. The Spanish government this week made clear that the future of Gibraltar would have to be included in a separate deal.

France, meanwhile, loading pressure on the government, called for London to sign "level playing field" labour laws and restrictions, as well as to abide by future EU environmental standards.

That was always a problem many in Britain failed to appreciate: the 27 member states would all want their say. And some – in particular those with important economic ties and rivalries to Britain, such as France, or who share contentious issues and borders, such as Ireland and Spain – would want a bigger say than others.

The EU, meanwhile, has been clear in its intention to make a no-deal scenario as unpalatable as possible. That, too, was always going to lead some member states to try to extract more from London as part of the deal, believing the UK would take any deal rather than risk leaving without one. That this approach may make a deal harder to pass the House of Commons did not seem to matter to them.

But one member state has broken ranks.

This week, the Dutch government proposed a "Great No Deal Bill" in the Staten Generaal which set out plans for a series of emergency laws in the event that the deal fails to pass. Within the bill are provisions to recognise UK qualifications and driving licenses, as well as social security guarantees such as agreements on healthcare for citizens and shared energy links.

You might think this is just sensible planning; the sort of thing a responsible government should be doing to protect itself, and the kind of forethought sadly lacking in Westminster. But a closer reading suggests an intention beyond simple preparation to avoid chaos at the port of Rotterdam after a No Deal Brexit. Recognition of professional qualifications and energy sharing agreements does not suggest the Dutch are merely being pragmatic. This bill doesn’t talk about turning hard shoulders of motorways into lorry parks. It’s all about continuity.

You might say: so what? Surely that’s a good thing? And you’d be right. But this level of preparedness sets out a willingness to minimise disruption between UK-Dutch trade and employment to a degree not shown by other member states. While France is busy tightening the thumbscrews, the Netherlands is actively loosening them.

There is clearly an understanding in the Hague that a hard Brexit, though important to the ideologues in Brussels, is not beneficial to member states. Nations that depend on good links with the UK will suffer as a result of no deal, and whilst France is big enough to try to throw its weight around, others are not. It is in their interests to make any eventuality palatable - not just the EU’s deal.

There is, of course, another reason for the Dutch government’s move to ease friction with the UK. Geert Wilders’ Freedom Part

Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Mindsy (PVV) is now the second largest in the Netherlands, playing off nationalist rhetoric and growing euroscepticism in the low countries. A damaging No Deal would easily be seen as an EU-made disaster, and should it impact negatively on the Dutch economy, one can see well in advance how that might be pounced upon by the PVV. Through its own stance, the EU might unwittingly empower yet another anti-EU or nationalist movement right on their doorstep. Clearly, that is a fire Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wants to avoid stoking.

The Dutch are not breaking ranks entirely with the EU’s line to make a hard Brexit hurt. But these efforts show that, in the capitals of Europe, there are still some who are worrying about what the future holds – and who are even prepared to risk the ire of the EU to avoid it.